Goodbye September, Hello October

September came and went and so did the Flim-Flam Games. I only got two submissions and neither of them were really what I wanted to publish, so I didn’t choose a winner for last month. Already, I’ve received more submissions for October. Keep them coming!

I’m going to handle the games a little differently this month. I’m going to publish stories as they come in and decide on the winner from among the published stories at the end of the month.

Additionally, as a way of considering the tastes of readers, I’ll consider the number of likes each story receives, but that will be a small part of the Flim-Flam selection process. I will use a process determined by the number of Facebook Likes the story receives since publication divided by the number of days it has been published.

For instance, if a story is published today (October 6, 2013) and received 23 Facebook Likes by the end of the month, on November 1, its Like daily average will be 23/25, or .92. The highest Like daily average at the end of the month will receive as an extra dose of personal like by me in consideration for the Flim-Flam game for the month. The winner will receive $5.

October’s Flim-Flam Theme

I’ve stayed away from themes until now. This month, however, in lieu of Halloween, I’d like stories to involve some kind of legendary, mythological, or non-human creature. That’s a pretty broad brush. Use your imagination.

For the purposes of the Flim-Flam Game, the contest winner will be determined 50% by my personal tastes, 25% by popular vote as expressed through Facebook Likes, and 25% by whether or not the story includes a legendary, mythological, or non-human creature. It can be scary, funny, or somewhere in between, but it should include a creature as a character or a prop within the story.

I will still publish stories that don’t include the creature (if I like them), but in terms of the Flim-Flam Game, they’ll be at a disadvantage.

I hope all of that is clear. If not, feel free to e-mail me at gardengnome @ allenleetaylor.com and I’ll try to clarify. Meanwhile, happy submitting. Read these guidelines: